Yantra op. 41

OpenSax – the title of this collection should appeal to all saxophonists who seek to explore new directions while keeping an eye on the current musical scene. Claude Georgel director of the Vent de Sax collection took advantage of a festive occasion – the 17th World Saxophone Congress and Festival in July 2015 – to ask nine composers from very different backgrounds to write pieces either joyful or poetic. The idea was to allow instrumentalists (starting year two of Alto Saxophone study) to explore a variety of artistic and technical worlds guided by the pure joy of playing. It’s a thrilling adventure: British composer JohnHarle draws on the Sanskrit symbol Yantra to weave magical connections between soloist and electroacoustics. Sophie Lacaze turns young saxophonists into Oriental storytellers as they celebrate through deft plays on keys the thousand shards of La Lune dans l’Eau. Vincent-Raphaël Carinola takes musicians into the dreamlike mechanism of the Montre molle so dear to Dali. In Sunny groove Claude Barthélémy offers those who thrill to jazz the pleasure of slipping into the skin of the legendary Sonny Rollins. Annette Mengel gives her Vol au Vent the appearance of a fragile haiku while Clara Olivares the composer of L’Envol transforms what could have been a banal study of the various types of vibrato into a hymn for freedom – that of the performer for example to whom she gives great importance. Claude Georgel’s Du Tac au Tac! conjures an amusing world to which a “very free questioning” rubato brings a simply irresistible sway. In Gamaphone for Saxophone and electroacoustics Philippe Gleiss throws a bridge between jazz and funk by plunging the musician into the sensual delights of rhythm. Xavier Rosselle brings the electroacoustic accompaniment of Main gauche Main droite et Clac a granular quality that emphasizes the music’s sobriety. From the nine stops that compose this journey springs an intoxicating taste of freedom. - Claude BarthélemySonny’s groove